Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland
Criminal Law
Made
3rd October 2016
Coming into operation
21st November 2016
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (Prescribed Police Stations) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 and shall come into operation on 21 November 2016.
2. The police stations listed in the Schedule to these Regulations are prescribed for the purposes of section 87 (1)(a) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
3. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 (Prescribed Police Stations) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015(3) are revoked.
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Justice on 3 October 2016
Claire Sugden
Minister of Justice
Regulation 2
Police Service of Northern Ireland | Antrim Police Station 24 Castle Street Antrim BT41 4AU | Antrim Road Police Station 274-280 Antrim Road Belfast BT15 5AA |
Ardmore Police Station 3 Belfast Road Newry BT34 1EF | Armagh Police Station 1-2 City View Newry Road Armagh BT60 1EP | |
Ballycastle Police Station 12 Ramoan Road Ballycastle BT54 6EG | Ballymena Police Station 26 Galgorm Road Ballymena BT43 5EX | |
Ballymoney Police Station 79 Charlotte Street Ballymoney BT53 6AZ | Banbridge Police Station 14 Castlewellan Road Banbridge BT32 4AX | |
Bangor Police Station 1-5 Castle Park Avenue Bangor BT20 4BS | Coleraine Police Station 17 Lodge Road Coleraine BT52 1LY | |
Downpatrick Police Station 3 Ballyhoran Road Downpatrick BT30 6RB | Dungannon Police Station 1 Quarry Lane Dungannon BT70 1HX | |
Enniskillen Police Station 48 Queen Street Enniskillen BT74 7JR | Larne Police Station 2 Hope Street Larne BT40 1UR | |
Limavady Police Station 11 Connell Street Limavady BT49 OEA | Lisburn Police Station 15 Barrack Street Lisburn BT28 1TJ | |
Lurgan Police Station 62 Church Place Lurgan BT66 6HD | Magherafelt Police Station 45-47 Meeting Street Magherafelt BT45 6BW | |
Musgrave Police Station 60 Victoria Street Belfast BT1 3GL | Newtownabbey Police Station 418 Shore Road Newtownabbey BT37 9RT | |
Newtownards Police Station 36-40 John Street Newtownards BT23 4LX | Omagh Police Station 1 Derry Road Omagh BT78 5DR | |
Strabane Police Station 23 – 25 Bowling Green Strabane BT82 8BW | Strand Road Police Station 81A Strand Road Londonderry BT48 7AA | |
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 ("the 2003 Act") imposes notification requirements on offenders convicted of certain sexual offences. These offenders are called "relevant offenders". The 2003 Act requires relevant offenders to notify certain personal information to the police, both at the outset and periodically thereafter. Persons subject to a Violent Offences Prevention Order (VOPO) provided for in the Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 or a Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Order (STPO), provided for in the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015, are also required to notify in the same way as a relevant offender of the 2003 Act. Provision for the STPO commenced on 1 April 2016, but provision for the VOPO is yet to commence.
Section 87(1) of the 2003 Act provides that relevant offenders of the 2003 Act and those subject to a VOPO or STPO give such notification by attending at any police station in the relevant offender's local police area which is prescribed in regulations. These Regulations prescribe those police stations in Northern Ireland.
For the purposes of section 87 of the 2003 Act, "local police area" is defined in section 88 (3) of the 2003 Act. Section 88(3) of the 2003 Act applies as if Northern Ireland were a police area (section 88(5) of the 2003 Act). In their application to Northern Ireland references to police areas in Part 2 of the 2003 Act are to be read as references to Northern Ireland (section 136(3) of the 2003 Act).
These Regulations revoke and replace the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (Prescribed Police Stations) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 (S.R.2015 No.345) so as to provide an updated list of prescribed police stations which are available in Northern Ireland, for notification purposes.
Specifically, the changes made to the list of prescribed police stations relate to: the removal of Castlereagh and Grosvenor Road police stations from the list, as they are no longer accessible to the public, and a change of address in relation to Downpatrick police station.
Article 12 of, and paragraph 77 (1) and (2) of Schedule 14 to, the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Devolution of Policing and Justice Functions) Order 2010 (S.I.2010/976) transferred the function of the Secretary of State under section 87 (1)(a) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (the 2003 Act) (in its application to Northern Ireland) to the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland; section 138(5) and (8) of the 2003 Act which makes relevant provision relating to the exercise of the section 87(1)(a) power of the Department of Justice was inserted by Article 12 of, and paragraph 77(1) and (3) of Schedule 14 to, S.I. 2010/976.